The offset wheel bracket assembly of this invention has particular utility in two situations: To extricate a two or four-wheel drive vehicle from mud or from a rut which has permitted the frame or axles of the vehicle to hang up between the wheels, and to permit changing flat tires on a vehicle, such as some sport cars, that has so little clearance from the ground as to make positioning a jack under the frame difficult without lying down on the ground. These are not the only uses for the device, but they are important ones.
When, in the course of traveling unmade roads or trails such as may be traversed by hunters, loggers, miners or military drivers, a two and four-wheel drive vehicle gets stuck in the mud or hung up on a high spot between ruts, it is often only necessary to get a rock or some other support under one front wheel, to permit the wheel to be turned at an angle to the rut to permit the vehicle to climb onto the crown between the ruts and extricate itself. However, it is no easy matter to get a jack under the frame to lift the wheel high enough to get a rock under it. A bumper jack raises the frame, but the wheel is likely to remain mired. The usual screw jack cannot be put into place unless a trench is dug to the place at which it has to be positioned, and in such a way that the jack handle can be manipulated.
The problems of trying to change a tire on a car or light truck with little clearance, using the screw or scissors type jacks commonly provided, when one is in good clothes, are self evident.
One of the objects of this invention is to provide an offset wheel bracket assembly by the use of which a wheel can be jacked up easily and quickly.
Another object is to provide such a wheel bracket assembly which is economical to manufacture, sturdy and durable in use.
Other objects will become apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the following description and accompanying drawings.